


Right at the Patchwork Seams

by Snow



Category: Newsflesh Trilogy - Mira Grant
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Gen, Guns, Misses Clause Challenge, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-25
Updated: 2011-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-28 02:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/302618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow/pseuds/Snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaun teaches Buffy how to hold a gun, George gives a pep talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right at the Patchwork Seams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [becstatic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/becstatic/gifts).



"We're not going to get it anyway," George was saying.

Shaun passed me the butt of his Glock 19, the muzzle facing at the ground. "Finger on the trigger guard," he said. I was already in the midst of complying. At least I knew that much by this point.

I didn't bother asking why they were then making me get my A-15 license. I understood that if there was the slightest _chance_ we could follow Senator Ryman's campaign Shaun and George wouldn't live with themselves unless they'd tried. And them not being able to live with themselves meant things would start to be unpleasant soon enough with me. They needed out of that house, needed to be able to follow their dreams.

"I don't mind," I reiterated, keeping the muzzle carefully pointed at the ground. It seemed like the safest direction. "It's the sort of thing I should know how to do anyway. Although not so much with the needing to do it, hopefully. The practice would feel less serious and be more fun with a hot guy, I will admit."

Shaun scoffed. "Do you have any issues with blindness? Because I thought that was George, but maybe we should get you a medical card too. How can you possibly resist me?"

I resisted the urge to flirt with Shaun, like I'd resisted the urge to flirt with Shaun many times before. It was never going to go anywhere good if it went anywhere at all. The best we could hope for was something fast and sweet that didn't leave any hard feelings, and that wasn't what I wanted.

It was harder than usual today because there was something sexually charged about being taught to shoot. Maybe I'd be better at it if I didn't think that. I opened my mouth to say something besides 'Or you can get a little closer so I can see you better,' even if I hadn't decided _what_ yet, and George leveled a look at me.

"Buffy, a moment?" George said.

Oh God. She was going to kill me for considering very nearly flirting with her brother. And I was going to totally and completely deserve it. "I'm really sorry," I blurted out, when we'd walked some distance from Shaun, far enough that I was sure he wouldn't hear anything we had to say. I was a little paranoid, it was probable that we'd walked far more distance than we actually had to.

George gave me a puzzled look, but it was possible that it was intended as a hostile one. It was really hard to tell with her sunglasses obscuring half of her face.

"You just need to relax a little," she told me. "It's about feeling comfortable with the gun in your hand. Ordinarily I'd suggest you spend time on just that, but as it is—"

"We don't have time," I said. "I know. I'm really sorry, George. I'm trying."

"Just try a little less hard. Shaun knows what he's doing, but he only knows what works for him. If his talking is distracting you from being able to find whatever zen-like place you need that has you not freaking out every third second, then tell him to shut up. He won't sulk much."

I let out a high, nervous laugh. George's words were helping a little, except for when they weren't. I didn't think I could do zen-like, and I knew that it wasn't really George's area either.

"Just...try to pretend that you're one of your characters and Shaun's your dream guy," George said, giving me a concerned look. "And you want to impress him."

"You have no idea how my mind works, do you?" I asked, giving her a concerned look right back.

"Absolutely not," George admitted. "Which is why I really shouldn't be trying to give any sort of advice. But you can get this on your own. Hopefully."

I made a face, my nose wrinkling up. "You give terrible pep talks."

"I make great threats. Relax, or I'll give you another one."

I laughed, then gave a determined nod. "Okay. I'll try."

George just smiled at me. "That's a good attitude most of the time, Buffy. I'd get you drunk and let you hold an unloaded gun, but that'll teach entirely the wrong thing." She made a face, clearly pondering the problem that was my shooting.

"No, it's okay," I said. "I'll get it. I promise. What do you think about when you shoot?" Maybe I'd be able to figure out how to translate George's thoughts to how my brain works better than she could figure out how to translate how my brain works into her thoughts.

George considered that for a couple of seconds, then shook her head, like she didn't like the answer she was about to give. "Mostly I'm thinking about how I want to hit the thing I'm shooting at. Or sometimes about how I don't want to be eaten."

I chewed on my bottom lip. "That doesn't sound very relaxing."

George smiled at me. "It's not."

I frowned back. "I don't think you're helping very much."

George's shoulders lifted and fell. "Then stop listening to me and go back to shooting at things with my brother."

"Can I ask _him_ for a pep talk?"

George laughed. "What would I care? Just understand that his answer to what he thinks about when he's shooting is probably going to be even worse than mine."

For all that George didn't give fantastic advice about relaxing, it had the effect of relaxing me more than a little. She was reminding me that Shaun was a ridiculous person who was a fair amount of fun to hang out with, but who certainly wasn't someone I had romantic or sexual inclinations towards, _usually_. I'd just written this scene, the one where the guy teaches the girl how to hold a gun, far too many times for it to feel as casual as it should.

...Of course, in my pieces the story usually ended when she had to shoot him post-amplification with the gun he'd taught her to use. And George would very likely kill me if anything of that type happened. There was a reason I was nervous about this whole learning to shoot thing, beyond the non-existence of sexual tension.


End file.
